All too often, teachers routinely spend money out of their own pocket purchasing supplies for children who come from families unable to buy school necessities. More than 16 million children in the United States – 22 percent of all children – live in families with incomes below the federal poverty level. Not only are teachers educating students, but they’re tackling major social issues such as homelessness, poverty, and hunger.

Local Buick GMC Dealers have set out to tackle this critical issue. Through an innovative partnership with CBS EcoMedia’s EducationAd advertising program, Local Buick GMC Dealers are funding the distribution of free backpacks filled with school supplies to 475 low-income students at Father Keith B. Kenny Elementary.

Local Buick GMC Dealers participated in a special assembly today where they personally distributed the backpacks to the surprised students at Father Keith B. Kenny Elementary. Hosts of today’s event included Scott Vanderbeek, President of Woodland Motors Buick GMC and the Local Marketing Association for Sacramento-Stockton-Modesto area; and David Donohue, Buick GMC District Sales Manager for Sacramento-Stockton-Modesto area.

The funding for the supplies was a part of Local Buick GMC Dealers EducationAd advertising on CBS, a program which enables advertisers to support community projects across the country, such as the backpacks filled with essential items including folders, notebooks, crayons, pens and pencils, pencil sharpeners, erasers, glue sticks, scissors, rulers and highlighters.

EcoMedia’s national non-profit partner, the Kids In Need Foundation, provided the school supplies and backpacks through its School Ready Supplies and Bulk Supplies Program. The Kids in Need Foundation’s mission is to ensure that every child is prepared to learn and succeed by providing free school supplies nationally to students most in need.

“Local Buick GMC Dealers are very pleased to be able to help out with such an important cause,” said David Donohue, Buick GMC District Sales Manager for Sacramento-Stockton-Modesto area. “These grassroots efforts are really important to help us connect with local communities and to help provide the basic tools kids need to achieve their goals in academics.” 

The impact of this partnership is profound. Children are able to fully participate in the educational experiences with which they are presented when they are given proper school supplies. Teachers and principals report improved concentration, participation, and behavior of students when they are properly equipped with supplies at school. And families within the community who are unable to purchase school supplies for their children are relieved of a burden.

"We commend EcoMedia and Local Buick GMC Dealers for understanding how important it is for students to have school supplies," said Dave Smith, executive director of the Kids In Need Foundation. "Having the school supplies means these students will not have to worry about how they will fully participate in classroom activities or how they will get their homework done. To eliminate this barrier for the kids and alleviate the burden teachers often assume of providing supplies to students out of their own pockets are the reasons the Kids In Need Foundation exists. But we can't do it without the support of our partners."  

 “Local Buick GMC Dealers have touched the lives of 475 students and their families with this generous donation made through our EducationAd program,” said Paul Polizzotto, President and Founder, CBS EcoMedia. “These supplies will be critical to each child’s educational experiences and will positively impact the greater Sacramento community.”

About The Kids In Need Foundation
The Kids In Need Foundation is a national 501(c)(3) charitable organization founded in 1995.  The Foundation’s mission is to prepare children to learn and succeed by providing free school supplies to students most in need. Its National Network of Resource Centers includes 32 facilities where teachers from low-income schools go to obtain free school supplies for their students. School supply giveaways in communities not served by Resource Centers are accommodated through the School Ready Supplies program, and students who have gone through natural disasters are helped to get back to their normal routines with new backpacks and supplies through the Second Responder program.  In addition, two Teacher Grant programs award preK-12 educators with funding to provide innovative learning experiences for students. The Kids In Need Foundation has distributed more than $550 million in school supplies since its founding, directly benefiting 3.6 million students and more than 120,000 teachers annually, and has awarded $1.5 million in grants to teachers.  Kids In Need has earned the Gold GuideStar Exchange Seal, demonstrating its commitment to transparency, and has consistently received high ratings from Charity Navigator, indicating that it operates in a fiscally responsible way and outperforms most other charities in America.  For more information, visit www.kinf.org.  Join Kids In Need Foundation on Twitter at twitter.com/kidsinneed and Facebook at facebook.com/kidsinneed.

About CBS EcoMedia Inc.
At EcoMedia, we’re propelled by the desire to create positive social change; that’s been our mission since we founded the company in 2002.  In 2010, after successfully partnering with CBS on a wide range of environmental projects, EcoMedia became the newest addition to the CBS Corporation portfolio, exponentially scaling our reach across television, radio, interactive, publishing and outdoor media. 

Through our patent-pending EcoAd, WellnessAd and EducationAd programs, an innovative twist on traditional advertising, advertisers are able to support much-needed local projects which in turn creates jobs, saves taxpayer money and improves the quality of life in communities nationwide.  In the process, we’re fundamentally altering the advertising landscape, elevating the ordinary, traditional commercial – and media, in general – into a catalyst for tangible, quantifiable social change.  Please visit ecomediacbs.com, like us at facebook.com/EcoMediaCBS or follow us at Twitter.com/EcoMediaCBS

By participating in EcoMedia’s EcoAd, WellnessAd and EducationAd advertising programs, EcoMedia’s advertisers agree to provide funding for projects we believe will have a beneficial effect upon the environment, health and/or education within local communities.  EcoMedia’s advertising programs are not certification programs nor are the EcoAd, WellnessAd or EducationAd logos seals of approval. EcoMedia does not in any way certify, endorse or make any representations about EcoMedia program advertisers, their products or services.

EcoMedia

EcoMedia

At CBS EcoMedia Inc., we have a vision: To harness the power of advertising and channel it into tangible social change.

Since the founding of the company in 2001, our team has worked tirelessly to develop and hone an advertising model that would transform this ideal into reality.

It was with great pride that in 2011 and 2012, we launched our EcoAd, WellnessAd, and EducationAd programs. These unique product offerings are based on our patent-pending ad model through which our clients, in collaboration with our wide network of non-profit partners, provide financial support for critical, yet underfunded, environmental, health, and education projects in communities nationwide.

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